Low morale, stress blamed in Army recruiter suicides

Published 6:30 am, Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Sgt. Nils “Aron” Andersson shot himself in 2007. He had served two combat tours in Iraq before being reassigned to recruiting duty in Houston.

Sgt. Nils “Aron” Andersson shot himself in 2007. He had served two combat tours in Iraq before being reassigned to recruiting duty in Houston.

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Brig. Gen. Dell Turner said he believes a humiliating episode played a role in the suicide of Staff Sgt. Larry G. Flores Jr., above.

Brig. Gen. Dell Turner said he believes a humiliating episode played a role in the suicide of Staff Sgt. Larry G. Flores Jr., above.

Photo: Family Photo

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Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Henderson committed suicide when he hanged himself in a shed.

Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Henderson committed suicide when he hanged himself in a shed.

Photo: Family Photo

Army to stop recruiting for 1 day after Houston suicides

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An Army investigation into a string of suicides among Houston-based recruiters has found that poor leadership, job-related stress, personal matters and medical problems all contributed to the deaths.

As a result of the findings released Wednesday, Secretary of the ArmyPete Geren ordered a rare one-day stand-down next month of all Army recruiting efforts in order to focus on leadership training, suicide prevention and recruiter wellness.

“This is a significant action,” said Brig. Gen. Dell Turner, who conducted the investigation. “It’s rarely implemented, and typically only after some significant event. It’s a day for the unit to stop what it’s doing on the mission side and review policies and practices.”

In addition to the stand-down, the Army’s Inspector General will lead an assessment of working conditions throughout the nation’s 38 recruiting battalions.

The Army is also reviewing recruiter screening and selection processes, Army-wide suicide prevention training, and access to mental health care, especially for soldierswho, like many recruiters, work in areas far from the resources of a military base.

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Turner said his investigation found evidence of a poor command climate inside the Houston battalion, which has lost four recruiters to suicide since 2005, including two who hanged themselves within weeks of each other last year. All four had served in Iraq or Afghanistan before being reassigned to recruiting duty, a job considered one of the most stressful in the Army, especially in wartime.

Turner concluded that there was no single cause for the deaths, but he said the leadership problem at the Houston battalion manifested itself in different ways, including poor morale, long work hours and unpredictable schedules that restricted recruiters’ time with their families and strained their personal relationships. In at least one instance, he said, commanders inappropriately humiliated Staff Sgt. Larry G. Flores Jr. during an Aug. 2 “low-production counseling session” in which Flores and other recruiters who failed to meet monthly quotas had to defend their work ethics before a panel of superiors.

Flores’ friends and colleagues have said the 26-year-old station commander later told them the battalion’s command sergeant major had pressured him to admit he was a failure and that he wanted to quit, so it would make it easier to kick him out of recruiting or even out of the Army. Turner said he believes the humiliating episode played a role in Flores’ suicide a week later. “It was very personal rather than being focused on performance improvement,” Turner said.

Studied each death

Later that month, Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, commander of U.S. Army Accessions Command, appointed Turner to scrutinize the circumstances of each death, as well as allegations that the chain of command tried to cover up a toxic leadership climate at the battalion.

“I’m very impressed with how seriously the Army took my request for an investigation,” Cornyn said Wednesday. “I’m encouraged by the depth and breadth of the review and the candor with which they have acknowledged the problems.”

The Texas Republican said he wants to hold hearings to determine if similar problems extend to the Army’s 37 other recruiting battalions.

At least 17 recruiters have killed themselves nationwide since 2001. The deaths come at a time when suicides among all active duty soldiers have hit record highs. In 2007, 115 committed suicide, the highest number since the Army began tracking such statistics in 1980. By October of last year, 117 soldiers had reportedly killed themselves.

Recruiters interviewed by the Chronicle have said they commute long distances to isolated stations and regularly work 12 to 14 hours a day, six or seven days a week.

If they don’t meet their monthly quotas, they said, they’re criticized as failures, punished with even longer duty hours and threatened with losing rank, receiving bad evaluations or being kicked out of the Army. Seeking mental health treatment is difficult because recruiters have little free time or access to doctors and therapists.

Amanda Henderson’s husband, Sgt. 1st Class Patrick G. Henderson, became the latest Houston-battalion recruiter to commit suicide when he hanged himself in a shed Sept. 20. His widow welcomed news of the Army’s report Wednesday.

“Even though I can’t bring him back, I’m glad something’s going to be done,” said Henderson, 32. “But is there really going to be a change?”

Bob Andersson’s son, Sgt. Nils “Aron” Andersson, shot himself in 2007. The 25-year-old Bronze Star recipient had served two combat tours in Iraq before being reassigned to recruiting duty in Houston. His father said he told Turner during a phone conversation Tuesday night that the Army needs to do a better job caring for its veterans.

“I said, ‘I was hoping (that sharing Aron’s story) would make a difference for even just one family. Now here you have the opportunity to save a lot of people a lot of grief.’ And I said, ‘I hope to God you can do it.’ ”